Organizational History: Hope Clinic began serving patients in July 2017, operating out of the Baptist Immigration Center, a local nonprofit serving the immigrant community. This local partner offered its building for clinic operations at no cost. Hope Clinic initially operated on Monday evenings from 5:30-8:30pm, when the Immigration Center was closed. By October 2017, Hope Clinic had more than doubled its hours, providing comprehensive primary care to low-income, uninsured patients from 2pm-9pm at the Center. Hope Clinic is currently open on Monday afternoons and evenings, and in May 2018 began serving patients on two Saturday afternoons per month.

Population Served: Hope Clinic focuses its services in McKinney. While an incredible place to live, McKinney is home to over 18,000 people without health insurance and over 11,000 people living in poverty. More specifically, the clinic serves uninsured McKinney residents living at 200% of the Federal Poverty Line and below. For a single person, this would qualify someone making $24,280 per year or less. For a family of four, the total household income would be $50,200 per year or less. These numbers are expected to grow with housing prices and cost of living on the rise due to a booming economy.

Hope Clinic serves patients of all ages, ethnicity, and gender. The age breakdown of our patient population is as follows: <18 - 10%, 18-24 - 10%, 25-44 - 30%, 45-64 - 45%, 65+ - 5%. Approximately 66% of our patients are females and 33% are males. About 45% of our patients are Hispanic/ Latino, 20% are African American, 18% are White, 6% are Non-Hispanic/Latino and 2% are Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Current Program and Accomplishments: Hope Clinic provides primary care, acute care, mental health, optometry, dermatology, nutrition and health education, specialist referrals, prescription assistance, community resource referrals, and spiritual care to patients of all ages. Patients are not charged a fee for services but are asked to make a donation that is meaningful to them to help cover the costs associated with the next patient's care. No patients are turned away based on inability to donate.
A few of Hope Clinic's most popular programs are outlined below.

Optometry
Hope Clinic is the only charitable clinic in Collin County providing a breadth of charitable optometry services. Patients can receive diabetic eye exams, yearly screenings, prescriptions for glasses, as well as a new pair of glasses or contacts if required. This program has affected patients deeply. Several patients have had such poor eyesight that it interfered with their ability to find work. The corrective lenses that Hope Clinic provided removed that barrier. In another case, a patient required cataract surgery. Hope Clinic was able to connect the patient with a charitable cataract clinic to correct this debilitating condition.

Mental Health
Hope Clinic is proud to partner with UT Southwestern to address the mental health needs of its patients. Through UT Southwestern's Vital Sign 6 application, all patients are screened for depression at their initial visit. For all positive screens, the application populates treatment suggestions for clinical providers. At follow-up appointments, patients being treated for depression are re-screened to assist our providers in medication management and treatment. This tool allows Hope Clinic to objectively measure mental health outcomes and adjust treatment as necessary. In the four months this program has been in place, we have already seen a 40% remission rate in our depression patients.

Prescription Assistance
Hope Clinic does not pay for patient prescriptions. However, through collaborations with Americares and Direct Relief, the clinic stocks medications donated through prescription drug companies. If physicians are unable to provide a patient with a donated medication or prescribe from the $4 generic list, the Clinical Coordinator assists the patient in applying for prescription assistance through the specific drug company manufacturing the medication. So far, 100% of Hope Clinic's patients who have applied with the assistance of staff have received one year of free medications.
Community Resource Referrals and Spiritual Care

Hope Clinic understands the impact of social determinants of health. If our patients cannot afford to put food on the table, they are not going to purchase their diabetes medicine. If they do not have transportation, they cannot come to their doctors' appointments. With that in mind, all new patients are asked about other social barriers to health at their initial appointment (food insecurity, domestic violence, immigration, housing, etc.). At the end of the visit, we have dedicated volunteers who come into the exam room to discuss these self-reported social issues with the patient and connect patients to other non-profits in the community that address these needs. We believe this is the most effective way for us to stay true to our mission-providing health care-while also recognizing that additional social needs affect our patient's overall health.

These self-reported needs allow for deeper conversations and strong relationship with our patients. Volunteers can offer prayer and encouragement for those patients who would choose to accept it. The volunteer logs what they discussed with the patient in the chart so that the next time the patient comes in, the volunteer can follow-up on the social issues discussed. This piece of the patient visit is what sets us apart from many other charitable clinics and allows our patients to feel safe and cared for.

"I've come in so many times feeling down, and before I leave, I'm laughing. I love coming here. I look forward to coming here."
These statements poured from Tammy's mouth as she explained what Hope Clinic means to her and how she loves the people of Hope Clinic- the best part of this mission.
Tammy was one of Hope Clinic's earliest patients. Her daughter came across a flyer for Hope Clinic and encouraged her mother to go. At that time, it was clear that she was not feeling well. Her poor health affected so many aspects of her life, including her mind and spirit. She had battled 20 years of ongoing health problems and visited many doctors' offices, but something always seemed to be missing.
After regular visits at Hope Clinic, Tammy began to change. The Hope Clinic staff and volunteers took notice. The change was so evident, you could see it in her face. A journey from sadness to joy. A journey toward hope. Tammy attributes most of this change to the care and genuine concern she has received. "You feel loved. You feel valuable here. That's a wonderful thing." Tammy looks forward to her visits at Hope Clinic because she looks forward to being encouraged and "lifted up." She appreciates the clinic staff and volunteers who listen attentively and pray over her. The extra time, conversation and encouragement is what separates Hope Clinic from all other healthcare experiences in Tammy's past. She is feels better and proudly states:
"When you feel better, you can think better. You can do things better. I don't feel as down as I used to. I am more balanced. Sure, I have hard days, [but] I don't let them overwhelm me anymore."